Thursday, July 07, 2005

Terrorist Attack in London

The death toll has reached forty-five in attacks that mirror those against Spain last year. Al Qaeda has taken credit. Analysts believe they were planned to coincide with the G8 summit. Instapundit and The Command Post have more.

UPDATE: I'll be praying for the those wounded and the families of those killed in London.

Honestly, I think this was a miss-step for the terrorists. They may have hoped to cut the British out of the "coalition of the willing" as they did Spain, but I don't think that will work. The Brits are made of tougher stuff.

What they have done is hammered home to many of the European populations that they are vulnerable. They are not only vulnerable to terrorists coming out of the middle east, but more importantly, they are vulnerable to terrorists being born in their own countries. Mosques in London and Paris have been cited as possible recruitment centers for western terrorists. If you think that the west will be putting up with that for much longer, you have another thing coming.

Even more importantly, if the problem is these radical mosques Europe is likely far better equipped than the US to fight this sort of battle. We would have our hands tied by the establishment clause of the 1st amendment. Most European nations do not have an establishment clause. Some western nations still have state churches receiving taxpayer dollars. They can regulate religion and that gives them a powerful weapon in their fight.